Adjoining this are several pretty monuments, all of white marble.
They are passed by with some indifference when the most perfect of
them all has been seen first.
A great deal has been said about a large water basin, which is
surrounded on three sides by cells, already much dilapidated; the
fourth side is open, and from it a beautiful stone staircase, forty
feet broad, leads to the water basin, which is twenty-five feet
deep. Every pilgrim would consider his pilgrimage of no account if
he did not step in here immediately on his arrival.
Divers plunge from the terraces of the cells to the bottom of the
basin, and fetch out the smallest pieces of money which have been
thrown in. Some are dexterous enough to catch the coin even before
it touches the bottom. We threw in several coins, which they
succeeded in bringing up every time, but I can scarcely believe that
they caught them before they reached the bottom. They remained long
enough under water each time, not only to pick the coin up, but also
to look for it. The feat was certainly surprising, but not, as some
travellers affirm, so remarkable that similar ones might not be seen
elsewhere.
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